Six Chinese accused of stealing patented US seed

TRADE SECRETS:The FBI had been tracking the CEO and employees of the Chinese corn company since last year, allegedly observing the men take corn from US fields

AP, DES MOINES, Iowa

Handout photos released on Thursday show Zhang Weiqiang, left, and Yan Wengui.

Photo: Reuters

Six men from China including the chief executive officer of a seed corn subsidiary of a Chinese conglomerate have been charged with conspiring to steal patented seed corn from two of the US’ leading seed developers, US prosecutors said on Thursday.

One man, Mo Hailong (莫海龍), also known as Robert Mo, was arrested on Wednesday in Miami, where he lives, said US Attorney Nicholas Klinefeldt, the Des Moines-based federal prosecutor for central Iowa.

Mo is charged with conspiracy to steal trade secrets. The other five men charged are being sought by federal authorities, Klinefeldt said.

Court documents read like an espionage novel with Chinese men found crawling on their knees in Midwest cornfields secretly stealing corn ears and federal agents obtaining court orders to tap the cellphone and bug the rental car of the CEO of Kings Nower Seed, a subsidiary of Beijing-based conglomerate DBN Group (大北農集團).

The FBI also placed GPS tracking devices on cars and tracked the men as they moved around the Midwest countryside stopping at cornfields and buying bags of seed from dealers in Iowa and Missouri.

Mo did not yet have an attorney appointed for him. Kings Nower Seed did not immediately return an e-mailed message.

The other men charged include CEO of Kings Nower Seed Li Shaoming and employees Wang Lei, Ye Jian and Lin Young.

They all live in China, which shares no extradition agreement with the US.

Wang Hongwei, a dual citizen of China and Canada, who lives in Canada, was also charged. Klinefeldt said the US and Canada do have an extradition agreement and all avenues are being considered to bring him into custody.

Court documents allege the men were observed taking corn from test fields containing highly valuable seed owned by Pioneer Hybrid and Monsanto, hiding it in a storage unit near Des Moines and eventually taking it to farm in Monee, Illinois, which the FBI said had been purchased by Kings Nower Seed in March last year.

In August last year, the FBI attached listening and GPS tracking devices to a car rented by Lin and Ye and recorded conversations about how they collect seed, what they would do with it, what might happen if they get caught and how Li was directing the activity.

On Sept. 30 last year, the FBI tracked Ye and Li as they prepared to fly from Chicago to China. US Customs searched them and found corn seed in their luggage. Ye had seed concealed in his pockets.

Wang flew to Burlington, Vermont, and rented a car to drive into Canada.

The FBI notified border agents to watch for him and he was searched.

According to court documents, 44 bags containing corn seeds were hidden under the car seat and in his luggage.

Seed developers like Monsanto and Pioneer spend millions of dollars and years to develop new varieties and carefully protect them against theft to maintain a competitive advantage.

“The goal of the individuals participating in this scheme was to obtain the benefit of research and development of US companies without making the same investments themselves,” said Tom Metz, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Omaha Division.

The loss to a US seed corn manufacturer of a patented seed line is a minimum of US$30 million to US$40 million and from five to eight years of research time, Klinefeldt said.

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